- Hardcover: 400 pages
- Publisher: Cemetery Dance Publications (March 2000)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1881475999
- ISBN-13: 978-1881475996
- Product Dimensions: 29.6 x 17.6 x 3.4 cm
- Shipping Weight: 853 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
A plot unfocused by underdeveloped characters makes a shaky vehicle for the sincere social concerns of Hoffman's latest crime thriller (after Eyes of Prey). When three co-eds from Philadelphia's Penn campus die apparently by their own hands, everyone is willing to write them off as suicides except hard-nosed homicide detective Ariel Dampier and campus cop Lucius Jackson, who is Ariel's ex-husband and on-again, off-again love interest. The reader discovers early on that two of the deaths are the handiwork of Shanicha Wilkins, a crack baby who has grown up without a trace of conscience and who gets her kicks craftily manipulating the vulnerable--in this instance, members of a confidential date-rape therapy group--to acts of violence and self-destruction. The other fatality bears the imprint of an anonymous Shanicha-wannabe, a surprise visitor from the bad seed's death-darkened past who eventually pulls Ariel and her loved ones straight into Shanicha's dangerous path. Although Shanicha has great potential as a criminal puppet master spawned by social neglect, Hoffman limits her to playing the single-minded psychopath, given to nonstop murder schemes, obsessive showering and violent outbursts. The story is dominated instead by Ariel, a mulatto woman on a predominantly white male police force, who is prone to repetitive reflections on identity that never illuminate similar issues for the other characters. So much space is devoted to Ariel getting a grip on her own problems that the murder investigations--and the novel's attempted investigation of racism, sexism, sexual abuse, drugs and failed social reform--are dissatisfyingly displaced. (Mar.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Born Bad -Barry Hoffman,
By Igor (Horror-Web.Com) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Born Bad (Mass Market Paperback)
Born Bad is a well written book by our friend Barry Hoffman over an Gauntlet Press. If you have the time, and enjoy crime books, I highly suggest you pick this one up.The book starts with a crack addict that seems to be having her baby in a crack house, with no one there to help her. Then the book moves forward about 17/18 years. One of the main characters in this book, IS that crack baby. A person born with no conscience, and being moved from home to home to find no love. Only being able to depend on herself , she seeks satisfaction in the ultimate ways. The story takes place on the Campus at a University . A rash of suicides or was it murders? Once Ariel Dampier is on the scene, things start to come together. Ariel is a strong bi-racial woman of the Jewish Faith. A Homicide detective in a unit filled with men who she had worked hard to get approval from and finally achieved. Getting into the mind of a killer is no easy task, but its something that needs to be done. Throughout the book you will understand the lives of many of the characters. Reminiscent of the writings of Ketchum in my opinion, due to the fact that this work is pure, true, gritty, and really takes you to another place.
3.0 out of 5 stars
intriguing premise, bland execution,
By David Group (Buffalo, NY) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Born Bad (Hardcover)
BORN BAD has the intruiging premise of a woman who uses psychology as a weapon, convincing unstable college classmates that they have no other option but to kill themselves. There is also a neat little plot twist about halfway through (which I won't give away). Unfortunately, we really don't get any sense of depth in any of the characters, particularly the evil woman (I kept thinking what Jim Thompson or Herbert Kastle could have done with this story), and the killer's fear of spiders does not appear to have any logical psychological explanation other than to serve as a plot device. I also felt that there was way too much emphasis on race relations (a little subtlety in this department would have gone a long way, rather than bludgeoning the reader over the head with it for several pages). One review on the back of the paperback says Hoffman writes lean, mean prose; to me, Andrew Vachss writes lean, mean prose, which is a razor blade compared to Hoffman's steak knife. Overall, a C+.
3.0 out of 5 stars
3 1/2 STARS...,
By Darren Jacks (North Hollywood, Ca) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Born Bad (Mass Market Paperback)
This was the first book I read by Mr Hoffman and I enjoyed it. It was a pretty good characterization about an unstable person and I liked his narrative voice.However, having just finished Hungry Eyes, his first novel, it wasn't nearly as good. And I am currently reading his second novel, Eyes of Prey, which so far is phenomenal. Born Bad isn't close to either one of these novels, but it is still a decent read. Hoffman has burst onto the horror scene like a lightning bolt. He is a fresh voice into a genre that has too many stale ones. Although he writes psychological horror and not really horror, he is still redefining the genre. He is just learning his craft and that is scary, because Hungry Eyes was nominated for a Stoker award his first trip out of the gate. This guy is breathing life into the cliched serial killer novel. I would like to see Hoffman tackle a "real horror novel." In his hands, he could work some real magic with the horror genre. However, I am just happy he has graced us with his presence. An interesting writer with a definite message to tell.
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